Old Friends & New Beginnings
by mayseds65
Summary: AU Katara has started a new life at college with her boyfriend, Jet. But what happens when the local bad boy, Zuko, turns her life upside down? ZUTARA
1. Prologue

**Old Friends and New Beginnings**

_This is my first story and my first attempt at writing where other people can see. Sorry the first chapter is so short I am just trying to give the background information first. Also I am not sure if I am any good at writing so feedback would be very helpful, constructive criticism is welcome._

_I do not in any way own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of the Characters of the story.  
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Today was the beginning of the rest of Katara's life. She was going to start college, with her boyfriend Jet. She thought she had it made.

"Katara! Katara!" Sokka called, "You are going to be late for orientation if you don't hurry, and Jet is already been waiting for you for an hour!"

Sokka acted like Katara's father because after their mom died and their father was drafted into the war, Sokka felt it was his duty to look after her.

Jet, clad in his worn denim jeans with holes in the knees and a tight white shirt, leaned over from his position against the wall, "Sokka, it's not that big of a deal I have waited a longer amount of time for her."

"Tell me about it one time we were leaving to go visit our Gran-Gran and she made me wait two hours so she could do her hair. Pssshhh…women."

"SOKKA I HEARD THAT!" angrily marching down the stairs, Katara gave Sokka a ferocious glare. In her new white wedge heels with ribbon straps that wrapped around her ankles and ended with a bow in the back, a dark blue denim skirt, and a light blue shirt that accentuated her curves, her appearance gave a false sense of security. "I had just gotten out of bed for your information! And I hadn't quite been awake; I was drowsy when I finally got to take my shower. You know how I am when I'm in my element; it's hard for me to leave."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just go finish getting ready." Sokka called annoyed that he lost their little fight.

"I am almost done anyway!" With that Katara turned around and marched back up the stairs. Twenty minutes later she came back down carrying her last suitcase and a brilliant smile.

"Are you ready?" Jet asked.

"Yeah I think so. This is my last bag, so…" At that moment Sokka rushed over to Katara and pulled her in for a long embrace that almost brought tears to both their eyes.

"I want you to be careful out there sis. It's a big world and I won't always be there to protect you. And if you need anything, anything at all don't hesitate to call me."

"Sokka you're so mushy and I am a big girl I can take care of myself. And try to behave when I am gone and keep the house clean. And do your laundry." Katara smiled and tried to hold back her tears. Her eyes were welling up and a clear layer of water was visible.

"I love you too sis." After their final goodbye Katara and Jet drove off headed for university life. Looking back Katara finally let the tears roll from her eyes.


	2. The Introduction

_Okay here is chapter two. I was really excited to get my first review and so I just started typing and this is what came out I hope you like it. :)_

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The ride to, was very long, especially for Katara. The whole way she was thinking about what she left behind. Jet was no help at all; He was perfectly content sitting there listening to his music. His attempt to cheer her up only made it worse.

"Hey Katara," he called trying to sound as sweet as possible. "How about we stop and get some food on the way. We can stop anywhere you want to."

"No thanks I'm not hungry," she replied, her eyes starting to well up. "Food only makes me think of Sokka." From that point she broke down into more tears. She pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her head between them. She looked up for a brief second to wipe her eyes and saw a sign. Only until she saw the sign that said they were about 80 miles from their destination did she start feeling better.

"At least we aren't that far from home." Jet was again trying to be comforting. "Sokka could easily travel the distance and be here for you. Also you will have me." He said flashing his bright smile.

Katara could only laugh at his childish antics. But she knew he was right. If she really needed Sokka he would stop at nothing to be there for her. This put her mind to ease and she started to think about college again.

"I can't wait till we start classes." Her mood changed rather quickly. Jet summed it up to it being that time of the month, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "I mean I am taking an art history class and I heard the teacher makes the class extremely fun."

"How can _Art History _be considered fun?" Pleased with himself for his witty comment he continued, "I mean it's art history it has the word history in it." Laughing he turned to look at Katara.

Her hair loopies, as Sokka called them, framed her face which at that moment was giving Jet a "_you have got to be kidding me look_." Jet shrunk away from her glare and continued driving with his eyes fixed on the road. "History is an interesting part of our lives Jet. It explains the way everything in the world interacts in the present and it can affect the future. By studying our past we can learn from it and change to improve ourselves."

"Okay, but that doesn't mean it isn't boring."

"That was the whole point of my little anecdote. History is exciting and full of life."

"Maybe for you, but most of the world looks at history class as nap time," Jet smiled contentedly, pleased that his witty comments just kept flowing.

"Whatever, I just can't get through to you. History is a part of everyone's lives and you are just going to have to deal with it so there." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and sat back in the seat.

"Well okay then." Silence enveloped the rest of the trip. Jet was frustrated that Katara was in one of her mood's he called it. And when they got to the University her mood was no better.

"Okay let's go to the orientation table first and then unpack everything. I just want to make sure that there were no changes." Katara said in her "_I want everything done my way"_ voice.

"Katara I doubt there were any changes. Anyway if there were I am pretty sure they would have let you know ahead of time."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Katara these people are professionals. You should let them do their jobs." Jet sighed and then rolled his eyes because he knew she would go check any way. And away she went in a huff. She turned around on her heels and stormed away.

When she reached the table the first thing she did was pick up an orientation pamphlet, and then she began questioning the people. "Excuse me can you tell me if there were any changes made to my room assignment?"

"Sure. What's your name?" The kind lady replied in return. She was middle aged and had fine lines and wrinkles in her face. She wore her hair pulled back in an up do and thin framed glasses sat on the bridge of her nose. Her clothes were simple and they hid her figure. Overall she looked like a librarian with an over-sized wardrobe.

"Katara Sutherlin." She said in return. Katara stood on her tip toes to look in the box the woman was going through. She was slightly bent over the table and looked like she was going to fall over.

"Ah, here we go 'Katara Sutherlin,'" she repeated. "It looks like you are in building C room 323."

"Yes that is what my paper says. Thank you." With exchanged smiles Katara turned around to walk back to the car. She looked up briefly from the paper to see if Jet was still there, he wasn't. She assumed he went to take his stuff to his room already. She looked back down at her paper and continued walking. Not looking where she was going, she ran straight into a guy wearing a black leather jacket, black jeans, carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder, and a motorcycle helmet in his left hand. He turned his head around and his shaggy black hair flew perfectly away from his face as Katara looked up with surprise. On the right side of his face was a comet shaped scar that went from the inside of his nose all the way around his ear. She couldn't help staring. She didn't even think before she started talking. She didn't even know what was going to come out of her mouth, she just kept talking.

"Oh my gosh. I am so sorry. I was reading my paper and I wasn't watching where I was going and I do that sometimes, I should really learn to pay attention. I'm really sorry."

"Whatever." And with that one word he turned around and acted as if she didn't even exist.

She wore a look of shock on her face as she turned and kept walking, looking back at different times to see if that really just happened.


	3. Roommates for life

"Hey. So is everything still the same with your room assignment?" sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Yes, if you must know nothing was changed." Facing jet Katara continued, "Anyway I got an orientation packet, so it was also very informative."

"Well I am happy for you and your orientation packet." Laughing jet grabbed some of Katara's belongings from the back of his red pickup truck and headed for the door to the dormitory. "Well are you coming?" he called over his shoulder.

In a daze of sorts Katara hesitated before answering as she watched the rude guy interacting with his friends. Her feelings caused great turmoil throughout her body. Quickly turning back to Jet, "Yeah, be right there!" Katara finally yelled then turned back around, but he was no longer standing there.

After saying her goodbyes to Jet Katara, already moved into her new home, was starting to get comfortable with the quiet. It was then that she learned there would no longer be quiet in her life.

"Sup' the name's Toph. I am your new roomie. So let's be friends." the new greeting came from the person that just crashed through the door without a second thought. All of her luggage exploded into the room and took up three quarters of floor space. Behind her came a small looking boy with tattoos that snaked around his body.

"Hi my names Katara." Proudly stated Katara not wanting to look sheepish in front of these two new people. "It's very nice to meet you. If I may ask who is the person you came in with?" noticing that he had left Katara took this opportunity to inquire about him without looking rude.

"Oh, that, that is just my boyfriend Aang. He is harmless and he just went to go get the rest of my stuff, so I will introduce you when he gets back." Toph explained she felt nervous in front of this strange person but knew at the same time that something good would come from their friendship. The only thing left would be for Katara to figure out Toph was blind.

At that moment Aang walked back into the room carrying to more bags, "That's the last of it." he said as he laid the bags down on her bed.

"Oh Aang by the way this is my roommate Katara. I thought I should introduce you guys." Toph said proud that she remembered.

"Oh. Hi, nice to meet you." Aang replied to Toph's informal introduction.

"Nice to meet you too." Katara said back to Aang. "So where do the both of you come from?"

"Well twinkle toes here comes from the Northern Appalachian Area in Pennsylvania. I came from Virginia. It is not a bad place but there are a bunch of rich people around where I live. What about you?" Toph stated trying to sound interested as Katara replied to the question.

"Well my boyfriend and I come from a small town in the suburbs around New York. If is not bad, but it's home."

"Oh. So you have a boyfriend?" Toph asked slyly.

"Yeah he's pretty great. I mean we have been together for a while and he always treats me with respect and remembers events like our anniversary and my birthday. It's really cute."

"I don't mean to be rude, but he sounds like a flower boy."

"..." speechless, Katara was speechless at how frank Toph talked for just meeting each other.

"I mean don't get me wrong I have one of those too, but I didn't expect that you would have a boyfriend like that. I pictured you with a bad boy type because you are just too sweet. Like a sugar queen."

"Hey!" Snapping out of his daze Aang rejoined the conversation. "Who are you calling a flower boy?"

"You obviously." Toph said very nonchalantly.

At this point the only thing that came to Katara's mind was the "bad boy" that she had bumped into earlier. Pondering if she could honestly see herself dating that type of person. She shook off her thoughts and tried to think of the boyfriend that she currently had. Jet was he actually a flower boy? He did remember all the things a girl would want remembered, but that was a little weird. He didn't really treat her different from all the other girls that he was friends with, and he never really did anything that proved him to be a "macho" man. In fact the only thing she could think right now is that he was skinny and didn't have the muscles that the strange guy had. When she ran into him it was like she ran into a rock.

"Yo Katara. Earth to Katara."

"Huh what?"

"What are you thinking over there?"

Completely oblivious of the fact that she forgot about the insults she just received she acted as if nothing had just happened, "Oh nothing, my head just went off on it's own tangent."

"Yeah sure whatever. Can you throw me that pillow over there?"

"Sure." Reaching for Toph's pillow Katara grabbed it and threw it towards Toph who was looking right at her. Unfortunately for Katara Toph didn't catch the pillow in her hands. She caught it in her face.

"Hey give a person a little warning will ya?"

Completely unaware of what just happened Katara sat astonished on her bed amazed at the scene that unfolded before her, silently pushing out the words, "Are you blind?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"What do you mean so what? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not like it's that important and besides I can pretty much see just fine anyway. I mean not with my eyes, but I feel vibrations through the ground and move around by listening to the sounds of the people."

"Oh that's cool. But I still think that that is something that you should have told me."

"Yeah probably." Laughing at herself Toph started pushing Aang out the door. "Hey Twinkle toes and I are gonna go get dinner. We can continue our chat later. We will have lots of time to get to know each other. See you later."

With that Katara was left by herself as she watched the door close behind her blind roommate and her boyfriend. The only thing or person on her mind was the rude guy that didn't even help her up.


	4. First Day of Classes

Who would have thought the first day of classes were here and Katara was certainly in no mood to begin. Last night Toph and Aang came back to the room pretty late after eating together again. Assuming she was asleep when they came back, they started fooling around. Katara wasn't asleep and at that point she wasn't ever going to be able to with thoughts of those two causing nightmares. The whole night Katara lay awake in bed. After listening for what seemed like forever to Toph and Aang talking and not talking, she finally let her thoughts drift elsewhere, unfortunately for her, that meant to Mr. Bad Boy with no manners. She instantly thought of his rock hard body. And from there, she couldn't stop herself. There was no helping the thoughts that popped into her head even all the dirty ones. The next morning she woke up running on around two hours of sleep. Katara was in no mood to be messed with and it didn't help that her first class was English, her least favorite subject. Before class even started, Katara downed two Grande sized cups of coffee. She then poured herself another to take with her to class.

Katara entered the lecture hall searching for a seat. She decided it would be best to sit in the back in case she felt herself falling asleep although with all the coffee in her she doubted it would be possible. Sitting in the back though was still a good idea in case she needed to use the bathroom after all that coffee. She sat down in the first seat she could find next to some random person. She thought this might be a good way to make a friend. She put her stuff down then turned to the person sitting next to her.

"Excuse me?" Katara whisper-yelled at the person next to her, poking them at the same time. The person turned and Katara came face to face with Mr. Bad Boy.

"Oh it's you." Katara let slip.

"What?" He asked.

"We met yesterday. Remember? I ran into you and I apologized and then you ignored me and kept on walking." Katara reminded him of yesterday's events.

"Oh yea…" He then turned back towards the front.

Katara just sat in _awe_ for a second not knowing how to respond to rejection twice. Now extremely frustrated with this guy, she put on her best smile, even though she could tell it was forced, and stuck her hand towards him. "Hi, I'm Katara."

He turned toward her, looked down at her hand, and then looked back at her "And I care why?"

"Well considering that I know I'm not the greatest at English, and you look like you will be _amazing_ at it," Katara emphasized her sarcasm on the last portion of her statement and then continued, "I could probably use your help over the next semester." She paused for a little and then added, "Oh. And you just happened to be the first lucky person I made contact with in this class. Aren't you happy? Plus the teacher just said we are sitting next to our peer partners, we are stuck with each other for the rest of the semester."

The teacher had in fact just said this, because Katara and Mr. Bad Boy happened to sit next to each other in two columns that the teacher claimed to be paired with each other; indeed, the two were now stuck with each other for the rest of the semester.

"Oh shit." Was all he could say, then added, "I'm Zuko." That was all he said then turned to face the front again and sat out the rest of the class in silence. Making sure to ignore everything Katara said.

Katara smiled. To her this was a victory, she learned his name, and now she could make his life miserable because he was stuck as her partner for the rest of the semester. She was especially happy that she learned his name. After the class ended, she walked out of the lecture hall suddenly feeling like the world contained a glow the most beautiful shade of yellow.

Waiting at the Starbucks on Campus for Jet, Katara sat reading over the syllabus she just received from her math class. Math was her last class of the day and she was so happy it was over. She loved math, but she was even more excited to be done with it.

"Hey." Jet said as he approached her. He pulled out a chair and sat down across from Katara. "How was your day?"

"Ohh, it was great! I made some new friends, and I am actually excited for English class this semester!" Thinking about Zuko as she said this, she couldn't help but smile. For some reason, she was really enjoying the fact that they were going to be partners, although she didn't quite know why yet. "How about yours?"

"That's great. And mine was pretty spectacular too." Little did Katara know, but Jet also made a new friend, only his thoughts were a little more improper than hers had been, and they were definitely towards a new friend that happened to be a girl.

"That's great. So you ready to go?" Katara responded.

"Yup."

With that, the two of them left Starbucks holding hands, and wearing ridiculous smiles on their faces. Anyone looking at them would think the two of them were off to do the dirty deed. Little did any of them know there were problems starting to crack the foundation of their relationship.


End file.
